


The New Guy

by Bullpen_Antics



Series: Mike and Ginny Will They or Won't They Catalogue [4]
Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 22:24:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10795953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bullpen_Antics/pseuds/Bullpen_Antics
Summary: A new guy has a crush on Ginny.





	1. Chapter 1

 

"I don't know how you guys do it, she's a smoke show. That girl makes a sweat mustache look sexy," Javi Vargas, the new second baseman stated.

"Ahh, you'll see, Baker's just one of the guys," Sal said.

"That woman will never be just one of the guys. Not with those legs and that smile," Javi replied.

The current that went through Sal, Sonny, and Dusty was unmistakable. New guy was a solid acquisition for the Padres, but loose lips sank ships, and the S.S. Bawson never did well in waters such as these.

Same story, different guy. Team gets new guy. New guy crushes on Baker. Lawson gets pissed. Baker gets annoyed. Team ignores the pair of them like the plague. New guy gets traded, sent back down, or becomes Robles. Lawson pipes the fuck down. All is well in the clubhouse.

After the third guy, everyone had accepted the new normal with Ginny Baker on the team. One could argue that some men would have responded similarly with any female on the team. But anyone with eyes could see that Ginny Baker is stunning. And sometime after the, "pretty girl in the dugout" speech it all clicked. Ginny's game was solid, she worked hard, and cared about the team more than herself; a genuine class act.

The guys knew that Ginny didn't need a slew of macho Neanderthal men vowing to guard her honor and virtue at every corner, she had Lawson for that. But they would stick up for their teammate and stave off any misguided attempts to make life in the Bigs any more difficult that it already was. The same that they would do for any player. And if not for Ginny, then definitely for their gun shy Captain who was about two new guys away from a heart attack or a felony assault charge.

"I'd let that one go man, Baker's got a code," Dusty tried to explain.

"I heard, no ballplayers eh. Well, just call me Trevor Davis," Javi stated before heading off to the showers.

"Old man Lawson's gonna punch that guy," Dusty said rubbing his temples.

"He might have to get in line, the guy's a douche," Sal replied.

"It'll be fine. Baker can handle her own, and Cap," Sonny reassured to an unconvinced audience.

The weeks that followed went painfully as expected. Vargas was persistent and the team knew it was only a matter of time before the main event.

It happened after a win. The team went out to celebrate in East Village at Bub's at the Ballpark. After the drinks started flowing, Vargas began to make his intentions known. Subtle brush ups here, over the top laughs at her jokes there... all spelling impending doom.

However, if it bothered Ginny, she didn't let on.

The group finally migrated to a more secluded table in the rear of the restaurant. Vargas was visibly upset when Blip sat down at Ginny's left and Lawson on her right.

He tried to muffle his surprise when Lawson leisurely draped his arm across the back of her chair.

Though his time with the Padres had been brief, he was aware of the Ginny Baker bubble, only penetrable by Mike Lawson. It was obvious that none of the other guys dare get that close to Baker.

"Pussies," Vargas thought to himself. No way in hell a relic with bad knees on his way out could successfully block him forever. He had heard multiple whispers around the league about Baker and Lawson, but no way in hell could the old man pull a girl like her. Legend or not.

"So what's your type Baker?"

Ginny felt Mike's finger tips pull into her shoulder just slightly.

"Don't really have one. What about you? You got a girl back home in Albuquerque?" Ginny asked.

As unfortunate and unfair as it was, Ginny had become an expert in redirection. Redirecting unwanted advances, personal questions, persistent companies who were dying to have her face plastered on their product was the full time job she never wanted, but executed flawlessly. She would be kind and tactful maybe once or twice. But as a select few learned, Ginny Baker would not just burn the bridge, she would torch it for the idiot who took her grace, youth, and womanhood for anything other than strength.

"Nope, nobody back home," Vargas said staring deeply at Ginny.

Mike was not amused.

Unnecessarily whispering softly into Ginny's ear, Mike asked if she wanted anything from the bar before loudly placing his beer on the table and getting up, earning a chuckle from Blip.

"He alright?" Vargas asked, still reeling from the sight of Mike Lawson's lips so close to Ginny Baker's neck. Vargas wasn't to thrilled about the blush that overtook her face afterward either.

"Yeah, he's fine," Blip said with a grin taking a pull of his beer.

"If only the new guy knew how close the table was to being flipped," Blip thought to himself.

When Mike returned, the table was engulfed in conversation. The new guy couldn't keep his eyes off Ginny. Not that Mike could blame him, but clearly the guy couldn't take a hint. Mike was making every attempt to convey "fuck off" without earning himself an long and drawn out feminista rant. A delicate involved balance for someone who isn't even anywhere close to being his.

"Not even a little hint there Baker?" Vargas asked with a wink.

"Alright, I'll bite," Ginny stated almost feeling the heat crest off of her captain.

"It's no secret that I dated a player. He played a certain position. So yeah, that's my type," Ginny explained to a wave of grins erupting across the table.

"Catchers?" Vargas asked.

"With beards," Ginny added gripping the base of her beer.

"Point taken," Vargas replied dryly.

The guys laughter rang out from the table.

Sonny slapped Vargas on the back before dragging him over to the bar to lick his wounds.

Ginny's face was already red before she peered up at her grinning Captain.

"Don't gloat," Ginny said tugging his beard.

"Wasn't gonna," Mike replied smiling down at his rookie.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation with Blip changes things.

"Just trying to see where this is heading Ginny, have you seen him? He's over the moon happy. Was this you guys coming out party or something?"

"No, it wasn't like that. It was just me shutting down an annoying teammate."

"You sure? Because to me, it looked like you were telling said teammate that you're taken."

Ginny chewed the bottom of her lip. She knew it was a tell, a marker of her uncertainty, but she couldn't help it. Time and time again Mike stood brooding by her side while guy after guy volleyed for her affection.

She knew it made him uncomfortable because it made her uncomfortable. They hadn't kissed, barely touched at the risk detonating something explosive that would leave them explaining away bruises and bite marks from the aftermath.

She hadn't planned that response, it just came out. And it was worth it to see Mike relax and settle back into their easy yet complicated groove. Walking a little taller at the implication of her words.

"It's..."

"Don't say complicated Ginny," Blip said as he rubbed his hands across his face.  
  
"The guys... the team... we all see it... we all know... How long Ginny?"

"Nothing's happened Blip. And we.. we haven't talked about anything, probably won't until," Ginny said with a pause.

 _Until he retires,_ Blip silentlyfinished.

"Look I care about you Ginny, I care about you both... just be careful is all. You have a lot more support on this team than you think... especially if you and Lawson are plan on taking on the world by yourselves."

  
It was only a short bus ride, but the content of that single conversation mattered.

Not entirely a stamp of approval, but she'd take it.

Ginny wheeled her suitcase into her hotel room and booked it to the shower. Partly to wash off the stench of the bus and partly to decompress from conversation with Blip.

He was in room 217. She was in 229.

After pacing around her room longer than she really needed, Ginny marched down the hall and to room 217, damp messy bun and all.

She hadn't anticipated him answering the door so quickly and wanted at least a few more seconds to rehearse her speech. But as soon as that door flew open, she lost her words, function of her mouth, and hearing apparently. Mike stood at the door, shirtless, in gray sweatpants, wearing his readers that he didn't want anyone to know he needed.

Gradually Ginny came out of her momentary stupor to hear him ask if she was ok.

"Can I come in?" Ginny asked on a rushed breath.

Mike stepped to the side and willed himself not to focus on the sheerness of Ginny's white top and the lack of length of her shorts.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mike asked taking off his readers and placing them on the dated hotel dresser.

Ginny took a breath, looked at her feet, and then at the iPad on bed.

"Going over hitters?" Ginny asked.

"More or less," Mike replied still fighting the urge and pull her into his arms and right whatever wrong brought her into his room at 2:30 in the morning.

"Gin," Mike began.

"How do you feel about me?" Ginny blurted out.

"What?"

When she didn't respond, he played it safe, because any other way when he could see her abs and nipples through the poorest excuse for fabric was dangerous.

"You're a solid player Baker, you could listen more, but we both know that and..."

"Mike... how do you feel about me?" Ginny asked stepping into his space, secretly basking in the scent that haunts her in her dreams.

"You don't want me to answer that question," Mike said flatly, the jovial demeanor replaced by something else.

"I do," Ginny pressed.

"It's late," Mike said trying to gain some distance so he could breathe normally again.

"Ok," Ginny said almost making it to the door before Mike grabbed her wrist.

It was only when she felt Mike's warm rough hands frame her neck and slide down her shoulders did she realize she was holding her breath.

"I must be doing everything wrong if you don't know how I feel about you."

Ginny's mouth went dry as she watched hazel eyes search her brown ones.

"You have a rule.." Mike began.

"Not sure it ever applied to you," Ginny whispered.

Ginny saw the moment where Mike seemed temporarily derailed but powered forward nonetheless.

"You said that you would decide if... when we talked about this," Mike said motioning between the two of them.

Ginny undid her bun and let her hair fall and grabbed at the hem of tank before she was halted by Mike's hands on hers.

"Gin."

"Start talking."

___________________________ 

 

Fairly certain she was still dreaming, Ginny clung to the warm wall that kept moving until she heard two distinct voices that startled her.

"We're here to make sure you didn't fall and couldn't get up old man," Ginny heard, recognizing the voice as Sonny. 

"Front desk lady is a Padres fan, who knew?" Dusty said rummaging through Mike's mini fridge and taking a water.

"Come on, how are you still sleeping, it's 10 o'clock, old..." Ginny heard the voices stop. 

Ginny's face was still tucked in his nook she lovingly remembered as the wall. His breathing had quickened and they needed to make a decision.

"All these years and still?! Privacy!" Mike grumbled, clutching Ginny to his side and rubbing a hand over his face.

"No such thing Lawson, you get dressed, we'll go get Baker," Dusty said turning on his heel.

"No need," Ginny said pulling back the plush comforter, "I'm up."

Ginny sat up and took in the looks of her bug eyed teammates.  Mike kissed Ginny's forehead before she climbed out of the bed.

Ginny slid on her Nike sliders and Lawson's sweater, scooting past a stunned Dusty and Sonny.

"I'll meet you guys down there," Ginny said before giving Mike a lingering look and shutting the door. 

"Mike..." Sonny began.

"No fucking way," Mike huffed, his face flush, groaning as he stood from the bed and headed to the shower.

"You'll have to talk eventually Lawson," Sonny said smiling dragging a stupefied Dusty to the door with him.

Mike nodded behind the bathroom door, the gentle smile overtaking his face.

Everything had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, one word. Sorry. The cancellation took the wind out of my sails for a bit. Hoping some dialogue doesn't sound too OOC. Let me know what you guys think, I'd appreciate the feedback!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ev wants details and nuance.

Ginny was fairly certain she heard Evelyn's squeal before she placed one foot outside of her Uber.

Evelyn quickly herded Ginny inside. The scents and delectable spread before her was incredible, no doubt designed to make her spill her deepest secrets. Evelyn Sanders was a sneaky woman.

The last game on the road was fine. They had won, played hard. On the field, things were as good as they had been in a long time. Off the field was a mess and the rapid fire text messages from Evelyn proved that she knew all about it... mostly.

Ginny plopped down at the table and giggled at the sight of her favorite meal and chilled grape soda before her.

"Does Blip get this kind of treatment when he comes off the road?"

"Among other things," Evelyn said wagging her eyebrows.

"You have exactly 5 minutes to enjoy your meal. I've had to wait 17 hours and Blip was useless... This is what I know," Evelyn said crossing her legs in the seat next to Ginny.

"The boys were having breakfast and you and Lawson were no where to be found," Evelyn continued. Ginny couldn't help but laugh as the corners of Evelyn's grin got deeper and deeper with each mini revelation.

"Sonny and somebody, maybe Dusty, volunteered to go wake up old man Lawson and look for you... they sweet talked the front desk lady for Mike's key and headed up to his room. Mike was all, "Rawr rawr... buncha Mooks this, mooks that..."

Ginny nearly spit out her grape soda from Evelyn's spot on impression of Mike.

"And THEN they turn to leave ... but YOU GINNY BAKER are underneath covers... You and Mike make out and leave the boys speechless and play the best game that you've played in ages. Textbook Padres of old," Evelyn finished.

"We didn't make out," Ginny mumbled.

Evelyn scrunched her brow.

"In front of the guys I mean, he just did the forehead kiss thing and I went back to my room to get cleaned up and changed," Ginny tried to explain to her clearly excited tiny friend.

"Spill!"

Ginny felt her face flush. The memory still fresh. The game had been incredible, almost perfect if she could say that.

The world hadn't ended and somehow, someway, out on the pitch she could stare into those hazel eyes and go to work. But the moment she stepped off the mound and his gaze met hers, beaming with pride and something new, all bets were off.

That morning kiss on the forehead was the only bit of contact Ginny got from Mike for the rest of the day and bus ride home apart from brief scorching glances that were over before they began.

They kept their distance without formally deciding to, the team commentary aided in that decision.

Blip said nothing, just smirked and suited up. Robles looked like a broken man while Dusty still looked like he walked in on his parents having sex.

"We didn't have sex you know," Ginny tried to explain after the game to Dusty as he was throwing his gear into his bag.

"Not my business Baker, not my business," Dusty said throwing his hands over his ears.

Ginny punched him in his shoulder and started to walk back to her make shift changing room. Mike's cubby was near the entrance and it wasn't long before the whistles and catcalls rang out.

Ginny wholeheartedly expected her Captain to scold the guys and make some sly remark, but he didn't. He did something else. He blushed. Ginny did the same and walked into her closet and closed the door.

"Sounds like you got the gist of it Ev."

"Ginny, don't make me hurt you.."

Ginny exhaled and began.

"Before you get too excited, we didn't have sex." Ginny could see Evelyn lost a bit of wind in one sail, but was still invested.

"I talked to Blip."

"He told me about that," Evelyn replied.

"I just needed to ask him Ev. I wanted to know how he felt and if I was crazy and making everything up in my head. So like a crazy person at like two in the morning I knocked on his door. He was standing there in his readers, gray sweats, and shirtless.. and I thought great.. I'm fucked," Ginny let out.

"But somehow I managed to formulate actual sentences. He told me that he's always wanted me. That it was my move because he didn't want to pressure me because I get that everywhere else. That he would wait for me."

"So what did you do?"

"I took my top off," Ginny said covering her eyes with her hand, in disbelief of her admission. Ginny prepped her ears for the squealing.

"After that it's a blur. His hands, his lips, my god his lips... we didn't have sex. It was super late and obviously we had a 1pm game, needed to be on the field by 10. I went to leave and he pulled me back. We slept through Mike's alarm. The next thing I know the guys are in the room and I left."

Ginny was almost concerned. Evelyn had never been quiet for that long before.

"So... what does this mean?" Evelyn asked. Ginny could see the watery bubble in Evelyn's eye. Of course they were best friends, but they were also the closest thing to family Ginny had this side of the planet. After hours and hours of conversations, girls nights, denials, and hypotheticals, this one was real. Ginny and Mike had came together and Evelyn was truly happy for her friend, Ginny could sense it.. see it.

"I have no idea."

"Have you talked to him?"

"We didn't sit next to each other on the bus, too awkward. But he said he would call me tonight."

"Gin, I feel like I'm in a parallel universe, I can't believe it's happening. You two deserve to be happy."

"I want to be happy, and I want to be happy with Mike," Ginny said feeling the heat kiss her cheeks. It felt surreal verbalizing it.

"But you guys... the team... that's one thing, the talking heads, media, twitter, the world... different story."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it... you've handled everything else with class, you'll do the same when the time comes...but I gotta ask... the beard?"

"I'll kill you if you tell."

"I won't! Swear!" Evelyn said scooting closer, thrilled for more details.

"The beard... the beard..." Ginny began. "Is the softest freaking thing ever," Ginny allowed out from behind her hands.

"Tell me if this is TMI?"

"Nothing is TMI... details, nuance... go!"

"Everything about Mike... it's like my skin caught fire every time he touched me. I've never seen Mike unsure of himself, but he was definitely hesitant at first... but when he finally did... when he kissed me... he kissed down my neck, my chest and down to my stomach," Ginny said, feeling the hitch in her breath.

"He better not ever shave the damn thing is what I'm trying to say," Ginny sighed.

Before Evelyn could respond, Ginny's phone rang and her heart dropped. She knew who it was.

"Hello?" Ginny said excusing herself to the spare bedroom to the dismay of her favorite nosy friend. No way she could focus with Evelyn's out of control shrieks next to her.

"How are you?" Mike asked.

"I don't think you've ever asked me that question," Ginny replied.

"Would you believe I've been having a hard time figuring out what to say?"

"You? Never," Ginny said with a small grin.

"I know. Shocked the hell out of me too. How about this... I miss you."

Flashes of childhood Ginny came flooding into Ginny's mind. Images of her holding a rookie card, hanging a poster in her room, and a broken scene of her at a Padres game with her dad.

"I just saw you not even a few hours ago," Ginny said smiling into the phone.

"Doesn't change anything, what are you doing later?"

"I don't have any plans. Ev made me a surprise dinner. Blip went to get the boys from his moms."

"Did the surprise dinner have anything to do with the breaking and entering of my hotel room on the road?" Mike asked already knowing the answer to the question.

"We talk about things other than you old man."

"Doubtful," Mike said with a chuckle.

"I know you Baker, and I know that pint sized private eye over there too. She's got sources on the inside."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but he wasn't wrong.

Mike exhaled loudly. "I want to see you. But I don't want you to think that I just want to... I mean, I respect you Ginny and..."

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm on my way."

The goodbye lingered for a bit after Ginny hung up the phone.

The heat of his breath, the roughness of his fingertips, his shear size alone up close and personal... Ginny closed her eyes and blew out a big breath at the memory of it all.

She wanted to be happy, and she wanted to be happy with Mike.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd update more frequently if I wasn't fearful of it being utter crap. Thanks for reading guys, and thank you a million times over for the comments and feedback.

**Author's Note:**

> For fucks sake... #PickUpPitch


End file.
